Commuter ferry service approved from East Bay to San Francisco, Redwood City

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Master deck hand Matthew Cosby wraps up a line as the Heron, Tideland Marine Group's 52 foot Chesapeake yacht, cuts through the waters of the San Francisco Bay in San Francisco, Calif., on Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2016. Tideline Marine Group is breaking into the public commuter service with a ferry run between Berkeley and San Francisco and other commuter service ventures. (Laura A. Oda/Bay Area News Group)

Captain Paul Bafey motors the Heron, Tideland Marine Group's 52-foot Chesapeake yacht, toward Pier 1.5 in San Francisco, Calif., on Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2016. Tideline Marine Group is breaking into the public commuter service with a ferry run between Berkeley and San Francisco and other commuter service ventures. (Laura A. Oda/Bay Area News Group)

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Commuters board the San Francisco Bay Ferry at the Alameda Main ferry terminal for a trip to San Francisco in Alameda, Calif., on Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2016. Water Emergency Transportation Authority (WETA) expects ridership to grow sixfold and plans to triple its fleet and more than double the number of routes it operates. (Laura A. Oda/Bay Area News Group)

Captain Paul Bafey prepares the Heron, Tideline Marine Group's 52-foot Chesapeake yacht, to embark on a cruise in the San Francisco Bay from Pier 1.5 in San Francisco, Calif., on Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2016. Tideline Marine Group is breaking into the public commuter service with a ferry run between Berkeley and San Francisco and other commuter service ventures. (Laura A. Oda/Bay Area News Group)

Commuters sit inside the San Francisco Bay Ferry on their way to the Ferry Building in San Francisco, Calif., on Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2016. Water Emergency Transportation Authority (WETA) expects ridership to grow sixfold and plans to triple its fleet and more than double the number of routes it operates. (Laura A. Oda/Bay Area News Group)

Master deckhand Matthew Cosby checks a line as the Heron, Tideland Marine Group's 52-foot Chesapeake yacht, speeds through the San Francisco Bay in San Francisco, Calif., on Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2016. Tideline Marine Group is breaking into the public commuter service with a ferry run between Berkeley and San Francisco and other commuter service ventures. (Laura A. Oda/Bay Area News Group)

Commuters line up to board the San Francisco Bay Ferry at the Alameda Main ferry terminal for a trip to San Francisco in Alameda, Calif., on Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2016. Water Emergency Transportation Authority (WETA) expects ridership to grow sixfold and plans to triple its fleet and more than double the number of routes it operates. (Laura A. Oda/Bay Area News Group)

Captain Andy Stuhan with PROP SF aboard Transistor, a 40-foot aluminum catamaran, at Pier 40 in San Francisco, Calif., on Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2016. PROP SF, a private marine commuter service, is breaking into the public ferry services between the East Bay, San Francisco and Redwood City. (Laura A. Oda/Bay Area News Group)

Captain Andy Stuhan with PROP SF aboard Transistor, a 40-foot aluminum catamaran, at Pier 40 in San Francisco, Calif., on Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2016. PROP SF, a private marine commuter service, is breaking into the public ferry services between the East Bay, San Francisco and Redwood City. (Laura A. Oda/Bay Area News Group)

Master deck hand Matthew Cosby prepares a line as the Heron, Tideland Marine Group's 52-foot Chesapeake yacht, docks at Pier 1.5 in San Francisco, Calif., on Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2016. Tideline Marine Group is breaking into the public commuter service with a ferry run between Berkeley and San Francisco and other commuter service ventures. (Laura A. Oda/Bay Area News Group)

Oakland Tribune newsboys take a trip on the General Frank M. Coxe steam ferry to Treasure Island in 1947. (Oakland Tribune Staff)

AC Transit's predecessor was the old key system. This view is of the key system's Transbay ferry slips, circa 1930. (Tribune archives)

The Ferry Hayward crosses the San Francisco Bay on December 27, 1938. Ferry Hayward, named of the city, was launched in 1923 as one of the first turbo-electric ferries on the Bay and could carry 3,000 passengers and featured a restaurant on board. (Oakland Tribune Photo)

For San Francisco-bound drivers inching their way down Interstate 80 in bumper-to-bumper traffic, or BART riders stuck standing in the claustrophobic heat of too-cramped quarters, a swift boat ride to work might seem like a dream come true.

That dream is becoming a reality. The California Public Utilities Commission last week approved two new private ferry operators to begin public commuter service this year from Berkeley and Emeryville to San Francisco and Redwood City. In addition, the Bay Area’s largest public ferry agency is in the midst of a massive overhaul, investing some $260 million on new maintenance facilities, vessels and an expanded ferry terminal in San Francisco.

Rather than a revolution, the moves are in many ways a return to a time when boats and ferries were the only way to cross the bay. Before the Golden Gate and Bay bridges were built, San Francisco’s Ferry Building served some 55 million passengers a year. The stately waterfront property connected four steam railroads, five interurban rail systems and 29 street- and cable-car lines with nearly a dozen ferry operators, according to Paul Trimble and William Knorp, authors of “Ferries of San Francisco Bay.”

The opening of the bridges in the mid-1930s, coupled with the ascendance of the automobile, ultimately sounded the death knell for transbay water transit. The vessels — once a hallmark of the Bay Area — stopped running to Marin in 1941, and the Southern Pacific Railroad’s ferry, called the San Leandro, made its final voyage to the East Bay in 1958.

There have been several efforts over the years to resurrect the bay’s system of water transport; ferry service between San Francisco and Marin resumed in 1970, and service to Vallejo opened again in 1986. But it took the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake’s monthlong closure of the Bay Bridge, which forced commuters onto BART, to spark a mini revival in water transit to the East Bay. And now, with Bay Area traffic congestion causing crippling commute times, and BART’s overcrowded system subject to constant delays, the clamor for alternatives is louder than ever, and private companies are heeding the call.

Tideline Marine Group President Nathan Nayman said the company will begin service from the Berkeley Marina to San Francisco, pending approval by the Berkeley City Council, one day a week beginning by the end of October, with service growing as demand grows. PROP SF CEO James Jaber said his company expects to begin operating daily commuter service in Berkeley, Emeryville, San Francisco and Redwood City in the first week of 2017. The exact pickup and drop-off locations will be released Oct. 18, Jaber said.

Both companies offer commuter ferry service for private employers or people who book rides in advance, but the new services approved Thursday will run on regular routes and will be open to the public. The proposed schedules can be found on the companies’ websites.

But don’t think the public Water Emergency Transportation Authority (WETA), which operates most ferry routes across the bay, is getting left behind. The agency was created by the state Legislature 10 years after the earthquake to consolidate existing Vallejo, Oakland and Alameda ferry operators, according to the California Transit Association, and now serves approximately 2.5 million passengers a year.

It plans to open a new route from Richmond in 2018 and will be opening new service to Alameda Point and Treasure Island in tandem with large-scale housing developments, with service to Treasure Island likely in 2021.

WETA has also talked about expanding service to Berkeley, Hercules, Antioch and Redwood City for years, and agency officials say it plans to grow its fleet from 12 vessels to 35 in the next 20 years, adding up to six new routes. Spokesman Ernest Sanchez said regional leaders understand the future’s solution to transit can be learned in lessons garnered from the past.

“Ferries had disappeared since the completion of the Bay Bridge and automobiles completely took over,” Sanchez said. “Now, we’re trying to do more to balance that out with a multi-pronged approach. We have BART, the freeways and ferries, and we have to use them all.”

Nayman and Jaber think there’s room for everyone on the bay. Rather than directly compete with WETA’s public ferry service, Nayman said Tideline’s Chesapeake boats offer a different kind of experience. At roughly a tenth the size of a typical public ferry, Nayman said the vessel is faster, more nimble and can navigate shallower waters, meaning it can reach marinas and docks that WETA’s ferries can’t.

“There is a real cornucopia, or a weaving, of all different types and sizes of vessels,” Nayman said. “We believe that giving people alternatives and getting them to and from their jobs and their families is something that makes for a better quality of life, and the revenue will follow.”

The new ferry services will cost more than a ride on a public ferry. PROP SF has proposed an $8.50 to $10 ticket from the East Bay to San Francisco and around $15 for a trip from the East Bay to Redwood City. Tideline is proposing a $7.50-$10 fare, compared with $6.60 for a ride from Oakland or Alameda on a WETA ferry, which is further reduced to $5 with a Clipper Card.

Cyclists will be able to bring their bikes on board, though PROP SF is proposing a $5 fee per bicycle. In San Francisco, PROP SF’s ferries will use Pier 15, Jaber said, while Nayman said Tideline will use the water taxi station at Pier 1 1/2, adjacent to the Ferry Building.

Tideline plans to expand the public commute service to Emeryville once the Berkeley operation is up and running, Nayman said. Both Tideline and PROP SF are considering expansions to Martinez, Hercules, Antioch and locations in the South Bay. But any new routes beyond Berkeley and Emeryville will need to be approved by the state’s Public Utilities Commission.

For more information about Tideline service, visit https://tidelinetickets.com. For more information about PROP SF service, visit http://www.propsf.net.

Erin Baldassari covers transportation, the Bay Area's housing shortage and breaking news. She served on the East Bay Times' 2017 Pulitzer Prize winning team for its coverage of the Ghost Ship fire. But most of all, she cares deeply about local news and hopes you do, too. If you'd like to support local journalism, please subscribe today.